What If
by ArizonaRain7723
Summary: NEW MOON- After Edward leaves Bella, Charlie notices all too well that Bella is going downhill faster and faster every day, so he calls his ex-wife, Renee, and begs her to fly up to Forks and help their little girl. With her mother's help Bella is able to heal and find love again. Jacob/Bella


**A/N: Hello! So, I love the twilight books but I will forever hate Stephenie Meyer for putting Bella Swan back into a relationship with someone who pretty much destroyed her. No matter the reason it was the wrong thing to do. I know these books were written a while ago but hey is it really ever too late to write some fanfiction on one of your favorite stories?**

 **I want to point out some things about this chapter before you do. It is very similar to New Moon in the middle of the chapter, I even quote some things from the book word for word. This is because even though Bella is different, it doesn't mean everyone else is going to be. This book was my life a while back so I don't want to change its bones. Only a lot of Bella's decisions. The deeper I go in this fanfic the more you'll see how different my views on events should have turned out.**

 **Also, I'm a grown ass woman now and I'll be adding some scenes in later chapters that won't be great for younger readers.**

 **Please review in the comments or email me at ArizonaRain7723**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor will I ever own, any of the Twilight books or its characters.**

 _NEW MOON- After Edward leaves Bella, Charlie notices all too well that Bella is going downhill quicker and quicker every day, so he calls his ex-wife, Renee, and begs her to fly up to Forks and help their little girl. With her mother's help Bella is able to heal and find love again. Jacob/Bella_

 **Chapter One**

It had been two months since Edward and the Cullen's had left me high and dry with no other expiation other than that I was no longer loved by any of them. How in the world do you just stop loving someone you swore up and down you were never going to leave and that you were always going to protect? Edward told me day after day that he was in love with me and that I was his soul mate, and then something just snapped in his mind. He no longer wanted to be around me or to have anything to do with me. These were the kinds of thoughts I had been crying myself to sleep with every night since my birthday, and I had no intentions of quitting.

So here I am in fetal position crying my eyes out mumbling to myself, "Why… why… why…" When I heard a car door close outside. I didn't care though. I didn't care who came to visit Charlie and God forbid anyone had come to visit me. They would be screamed at to leave so quickly they wouldn't know what hit them. The only person I cared about seeing right now was Edward… But I knew that wasn't going to happen. I hear some muffled conversation down in the living room and notice that it's a female voice, I couldn't understand what they were saying though, not that I wanted to. After a moment there were some light footsteps heading up the stairs and I could tell they didn't belong to Charlie because his were always heavy. My only thought that filled my head was - _That bedroom door better not open! -_

 _*Creeeeeeek*_

The sound of my bedroom door slowly opening filled my tiny body with anger. I threw my covers off me with a strong push and yanked myself into a sitting position. Who the hell decided that they were going to come into my bedroom unannounced. Who in the world thinks that they are important enough to-

My anger flooded out of me in an instant when I saw who was standing in the door way.

"Mom!" I shouted.

My mother rushed over to me and threw herself onto my bed and hugged me. I started violently crying into her neck and my body started shaking.

"Shhh baby girl, shhh." My mother murmured while rubbing her fingers lightly up and down my back.

I hadn't wanted to talk with anyone about the breakup but I guess keeping everything to myself had hurt me more than I thought because the second me and her mad contact I started sharing my troubles with her. "How could he do this Mom? Why would he do this to me!" I sobbed into my mom's neck.

"Because he's stupid. He doesn't know what he gave up. You are the sweetest, smartest, most compassionate young woman I have ever met and he will never find anyone better than you." I knew Rene meant this with all her heart, and at any other moment in time I would have been touched, but right now I didn't believe her words.

"He told me he loved me." I was still sobbing, "And I believed him! How could I have been so stupid to think that someone as extraordinary as him could love someone as dull and pathetic as me?!"

My mother grabs me by the cheeks, makes me look her in the eye, and says, "Don't say that about yourself! Did you not hear what I just said? You are an amazing woman! You are so much better than him it isn't funny. You are so beautiful and kind, you'll find a man who will treat you right and love you with all his heart and I don't doubt that for a second."

If only she knew the extent of what I lost. He was not only my first love but I was sure he would be my only. But it was no ordinary relationship that we had. I was so certain that with him and his family letting me know their secret, about the creatures that they were… _vampires…_ That to me meant that they wanted me in their lives forever and that maybe one day they would turn me into one of them as well. I was going to be Isabella Cullen, the beautiful woman with golden eyes, married to Edward. No other man was going to give that to me nor would he make me feel the same way Edward had. I had been utterly devoted to him, I had given him my whole soul, my whole heart, and I would have given him my body if he would have let me. And to repay me? He tore me in half, left me so empty and broken that I knew I could never be fixed. _I don't love you…_ His words echoed through my head and I began to cry again.

" _Bella, I don't want you to come with me." He spoke the words slowly and precisely, his cold eyes on my face, watching as I absorbed what he was really saying._

 _There was a pause as I repeated the words in my head a few times, shifting through them for their real intent._

" _You… don't… want me?" I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded in that order._

" _No."_

" _None of us do, Bella." A woman's voice says behind me._ _I spun around to see Alice skipping into the woods that were surrounding me, giggling._

" _What do you mean none of you want me?" I ask with a shaky voice._

" _Just what she said." Rosalie answers me as she stepped out from behind a tree. "We don't want anything to do with you anymore!"_

" _Honestly, we don't even love you anymore." Esme says as she gracefully dropped down from a tree near me, almost making no noise when she landed on the ground._

" _Not that we ever really did in the first place." This voice belonged to Carlisle. I spun again to find him sitting on a log snapping a stick in half, then dropping in on the ground only to pick up another and snap it in half._

 _SNAP.. SNAP.._

" _You were just Edwards play thing. We were hoping that you would give up the goods to him. That way he could clear up his case of blue balls and crush you in the process. Killing two birds with one stone if you ask me." Emmett's cruel words hit me as he walked out of the darkness to join Rosalie, picking up her hand and kissing it._

 _SNAP.. SNAP.. SNAP.._

" _I should have killed you when I had the chance, I think I'll do it right now." Jasper whispered this in my ear from behind me then suddenly I felt teeth sinking into my neck._

 _SNAP.._

I shot up out of bed, covered in a thin layer of sweat and my heart was pounding so hard I felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was in my bed and not in the woods surrounded by the cruel Cullen's of my dreams. I rested my head on my knees and attempted to slow my breathing, which took a good ten minutes. This nightmare was far worse than the others. Usually in my nightmares it was just Edward telling me that he didn't want me on repeat… I had no clue why my mind had created something so cruel.

After calming myself I scanned my bedroom and discovered that Renee was nowhere in sight. I guess she had left the room after I finally cried myself into a small coma. I glanced at the clock on the wall. A small coma indeed, it was eleven in the morning… I had slept ten hours, guess I needed it.

I slowly lifted my legs out of my bed and placed my feet on the floor and the old hardwood floors chilled my feet. I walked past my body length mirror and noticed that someone had pulled the sheet off that I had covered it with. A note was tucked into the wood edging of the mirror.

 **Bella! Head to the shower and when I hear the water running**

 **I'll start making your favorite breakfast!**

 **Blueberry pancakes! Yum!**

 **I'll help you pick out something to wear because today we're going**

 **to the city for a major girl's day!**

 **-Mom**

I sighed. My mom meant well but I really didn't want to leave the house. Leaving my corner of the world was the bane of my existence. I didn't like seeing people and having to pretend to be somewhat human instead of zombie, especially for people that I didn't know. But I would have to do this for my mom, she had flown across the country to be with me and I wasn't going to make her regret it.

As I made my way into the bathroom and into the shower I wondered what 'girl's day' was going to hold for me. I knew there would probably be a lot of shopping and that scared me. I didn't like looking at myself in the mirror anymore because I was so ugly, and to try on clothes you had to be in a room with a wall to ceiling mirror.

That thought made me start to slightly panic so I pushed it away and finished my shower.

Once I was back in my bedroom I saw that my mom had already laid out some clothes for me- a pair of faded blue jeans, a ratty purple sweater. And some tennis shoes. It was probably really hard finding something in my closet that was remotely decent to go out in public in. I had gotten rid of all the nice clothes the Cullen's have bought for me. I wanted no reminders of them in my space… the memories killed me enough as it was. I pulled the clothes on and slowly walked down the stairs and to the kitchen. I discovered Renee moving pancakes from the hot pan to a plate, which I assumed was for me. She had made good on her promise on making my favorite breakfast, now I have to pretend to enjoy it.

"Bella!" My mom said happily. "Sit down, everything is just about finished! The syrup is heating up in the microwave right now."

I walked over to the table and heard the beeping of the microwave, alerting anyone who was near that food was ready. Renee walked over to the machine and pulled out the syrup and quickly walked over to me with a plate full of pancakes in one hand and the hot syrup in the other.

She placed the dish in front of me and I saw a whole three pancakes glaring at me.

"Mom, I don't know if I can eat all of this."

My mom looked me up and down and said, "I don't care if you think you can't. You're going to. Look at you! Your clothes are basically falling off of your body. When was the last time you ate a good meal?"

"I cook dinner for Charlie every night." I said to her. I used my arms to cover as much of myself as I could, I didn't like her stating the obvious. Nobody else did.

"Yeah you COOK for him. Do you eat with him? Don't lie to me either because I'll just ask him." Renee crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me until I answered her.

"I eat some food, just not a lot. Just what will keep me going." I said, not looking my mom in the eyes.

"You mean eating barley enough to keep you alive. You've lost so much weight since I've seen you last Darling. It makes me sad that you're doing this to yourself."

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled. I felt bad that she had to see me this way, but honestly I had no interest in food. When the hunger pains came it was just a welcomed distraction.

"Look Bella, I understand how you're feeling. The first time you get your heart broken is always the worst, you feel like dying and you don't want to do anything at all but lay in bed and cry for hours, but what you're doing isn't healthy. Eat as much as you can and then will talk about portions to try and get some healthy weight on you.

I looked down at the plate of pancakes, slowly pick up my fork, and mechanically brought fork from my food to my mouth. The syrup had gone cold during Renee's lecture, but I didn't care, I just wanted to make her happy. I took one bite after the other and after a bit it was getting harder and harder to get the food down, but I did it.

"See Bella, don't you feel better now?" She asked me, while eating a pancake of her own.

No, it didn't make me feel any better, in fact I was starting to feel rather queasy. Just as that thought crossed my head I felt the food rushing up out of my stomach and I had to run over to the trash can and throw up everything that I had just put into my body.

"I should have assumed that was going to happen." Renee handed me a wet paper towel and made sure none of my hair was getting in the way of my heaves.

After I had emptied my stomach my mom and I sat on the kitchen floor together. She was humming and rubbing my back and stroking my hair.

"Everything will get better sweetie, you have to believe that. That is one of the biggest thing that got me through all of my brake ups and separations. Believing that everything would get better and that I would be okay. Sulking about is ok for a couple of days is okay, but I would not be in the fantastic relationship I'm in today if I had let myself go as badly as you have. I want you to get better and I'm not leaving you until I've seen you making some progress. Now go upstairs and brush your teeth. We're going to Port Angeles.

It was a slow afternoon at Newtons. At the moment, there were only two patrons in the store, dedicated backpackers by the sound of their conversation. I had asked them twice if they needed any help but they seemed too much rather have Mikes company and 'expertise' than mine, so I was just standing at the counter hoping maybe the phone would ring and give me something to do. Maybe I could text my mom a bit… Mike has never had an issue using his phone while on the clock… and it was extremely slow. I pulled the little rectangle phone out of my pocket and found my mom's number and texted **, "Hey Mom! What are you up to?"**

Rene had been gone for two weeks so far but we texted every day so that the blow of her leaving didn't hurt as badly. She had bought me a cell phone at the end of her three-week visit because she wanted to make sure that at any point of the day, even if I was away from a land line, that I could get ahold of her if I needed to talk. During the time she had stayed with Charlie and I, she had done wonders in helping me heal. She had forced me out of my room and into the outside world, making me see that it hadn't stopped when my world had. She helped me get this job at Newtons so that I had to leave the house even when I didn't want to and so that I would have money to do things when I did. She made me want to live my life again and I will be forever grateful to have such an amazing mother such as Rene. Even though I was not completely healed yet I knew I would be ok all thanks to my mom.

Buzz Buzz Buzz. My phone vibrated when my mom returned the text. **"Nothing much Bella! Me and the hubby are just getting ready to go to the beach. It's really nice out today! 70 degrees!"**

I glanced up at Mike before replying to Rene to see if he noticed me using my phone, but it didn't look like he had. He was still going over the pros and cons of two different light weight packs with the two men.

" **70 degrees in January? You guys are to lucky! It's like 50 degrees here today."** At a time like this I find myself slightly regretting not taking my mom up on her offer of flying me down to Florida to live with them. I could be going to the beach with her right now and enjoying the sunlight on my skin with my best friend by my side. But I knew that I still had a purpose here in Forks, not that I knew what it was quite yet but there was something keeping me here.

Buzz buzz buzz- **"That weather is why I could never live in that place long term again. I don't have enough fuzzy socks to get me through the year!"**

Her text made me laugh out loud. The way she was when she was visiting here reminded me of my first couple of months. Frozen toes and fingers were the worst. No matter what time of the year it was I was always shivering and no doubt my mother was the same way. **"Lol Mom, trust me I know what you mean. I wish I could be at the beach today with you. I'm so bored it's not funny. I'll be off of work in an hour and I have absolutely no plans."**

Mike walked over to me as I was reading the message and said, "Bella, why don't you off."

I scrambled to shove my cell into my back pocket but I knew he had already seen me. "I'm sorry Mike! I was texting my mom, it won't happen again."

"I'm not upset with you, don't worry. I would be doing the same thing if these guys didn't 'need' my help." Mike used finger air quotes around the word need. "But I'm going to close the store as soon as they give up or buy something so you might as well head out." My phone buzzed in my pocket alerting me that Rene had texted me back.

The backpackers laughed in the background interrupting me and Mike. "I'm telling you," said one of the men. "I've seen grizzlies pretty close up in Yellowstone, but they had nothing on this brute." Both of the men looked as if they were fresh from the mountains. "Not a chance. Black bears don't get that big, the grizzlies you saw were probably cubs." The second man said to the first.

"If you want me to go…" I said, trying to hide my excitement. Although I had no idea what I was going to do once I left, I knew I didn't want to be here a second longer. I quickly walked over to the employee lockers and grabbed my truck keys, wallet, and jacket, and headed for the door.

I grabbed the handle, looked over my shoulder at Mike, and asked, "Will I see you on Monday?"

"Yes, sir." Mike replied, turning away.

Once in my truck I start her up and turn the heater on full blast to mask the cold. I pull my phone out of my pocket and read my mom's text. **"Well, even though you wouldn't be with me, or warm, that doesn't mean you can't go to the beach. There is a beach at the Native American reservation. La Push I think it's called. Don't you have a friend who lives down there? I remember one of Charlies friends having a little boy that you loved to play with. You would always tell me about it and I think you had a little crush on him. Well whatever you choose to do with your day make sure it's a memorable one and you aren't just sitting at home. I'll talk to you later Bella, I love you."**

She wasn't wrong, the reservation did have a beach and Jacob Black did live on the reservation. I had talked with him last year and it wouldn't be such a bad idea to socialize a little bit, maybe I would go down and visit with the Blacks.

" **That's a good idea! I love you too, Mom. Have a great day at the Beach."**

I pulled out of the Newtons parking lot and headed for my house. Even if I was going to go to the Blacks place I wanted to get out of my work clothes. Yellow was never a good color on me and hated every time I had to put this gross shirt on.

Once in the house I headed up to the bathroom and took a quick hot shower, hoping to get my limbs moving normally, as this cold always had my arms and legs stiffened up. I washed my hair and left my conditioner in for about ten minutes then looked at my razor that was sitting on the side of the tub. I would always shave my armpits but by the looks of my legs it seemed like I had forgotten about them for several months. It was winter after all, who was I going to show them to?

After rinsing out the conditioner I got out of the shower and rushed into my bedroom to get some warm clothes on. Standing in front of my closet I grabbed a ratty old sweater and was about to yank it over my head when I heard-

Buzz buzz buzz… Buzz buzz buzz…

Two new text messages from a number I didn't have saved in my phone. One read- **"Wear something pretty."** And the other, **"Trust me, you won't regret it."**

Extremely weirded out and confused I texted back, **"Who is this? I don't have your number saved in my phone."** And after several minutes I got a reply. **"Oh, I'm sorry! I texted the wrong number. My bad!"**

Okay that made me feel better that It wasn't some creeper looking at me through my window or something. But the text had a point, I should wear something nice. My mom would have killed me if she knew I was going to wear something so unattractive to see a boy, even if It wasn't on romantic terms. I walked back over to my closet and grabbed a different sweater, the thick red one Renee had picked out for me on one of our shopping trips, then I pulled on some dark blue jeans and a pair of brown boots. After looking at myself in the mirror I decided that all I really needed was a bit of mascara and some nude lipstick and then I would be good to go once my hair dried.

I walked downstairs and picked up the landline to call Charlie to ask for directions to Jacobs house. I didn't want to use any minutes up that I didn't have to so any opportunity that I could I used the land line to make calls.

"Chief Swan, please." I said to the deputy who answered, "It's his daughter, Bella."

"Oh hi! I'll go get him for ya." I heard the phone being set down and then footsteps.

"What's up, Bella?" My dad asked when he picked up the phone a minute later.

"Hey Dad, can I get directions to the Blacks house? I wanted to go to the beach and I'm going to invite Jacob since he's in that area, I haven't seen him in forever."

"That's a great idea, Bella! Do you have a pen?"

"I'll just remember them. I've been there before so it'll really just be like a reminder."

Charlie gave me the directions twice and made me repeat them to him. After he was certain I had them correct he told me to have fun and we hung up.

It took a little while for my hair to dry because of how thick it was, so I watched some t.v. then made some snacks for the beach, then grabbed my jacket and headed out.

It was a twenty-two-minute drive to La Push from Forks and I was nervous the whole way there. I hadn't seen Jacob in about a year and to be coming unannounced seemed kind of rude, but from what I can remember Jacob was always down for an adventure. Him and I had always gone with our dads on their fishing trips and we would constantly get into trouble throwing mud around and scaring fish away. And my mom wasn't wrong, I did have quite the crush on the kid when we were young. The memories made me smile and calmed me down a bit.

Once I pulled up to the address Charlie had given me I knew I was in the right place. I recognized the house from my memories of visiting as a child. It was a small house made of wood with narrow windows and red paint. It hadn't changed at all. Jacob had obviously heard me coming because he had stepped out onto the front porch to greet me. The roar from the engine was probably a very familiar one to them, as they were the last owners.

I slid out of my truck and saw that Jake had already made his way over to me.

"Bella!" Jacob exclaimed with a large smile on his face. Jacob picked me up and spun me in a circle, making me giggle like a little girl.

"That was quit the greeting!" I said to him, once he placed me back down on the ground, laughing with a smile of my own.

"I'm sorry! Charlie called and told us you were on your way to hang out and I got excited to see you." Oh Charlie, never letting me have the element of surprise.

"No, don't be sorry. It was nice." I still had a smile plastered on my face. I looked Jacob up and down. He had grown so much since the last time I'd seen him! He was taller and more muscular than ever before, but he still had his long black hair, his friendly eyes, and that amazing smile. He was a man now, at least in appearance

"How did you grow so much in one year, Jacob!?" I asked him, stretching up onto my tiptoes to push at his shoulder.

"Uh, because I'm awesome! "Jacob's voice was so deep, "Come inside Bella! You're getting wet!" I hadn't even realized that it had started lightly raining. So much for letting my hair dry.

Jacob escorted me up to his small house and opened the door to let me in. The front door led into the living room where I saw Billy in his wheelchair watching television.

"You were right dad! It was Bella who pulled up." Jacob called out to his dad.

"Good afternoon Bella, what brings you to our neck of the woods?" Billy Black asks me, rolling his wheelchair to meet me and Jacob by the door.

"Well, I was thinking about Jacob today and realized how long it had been since I had seen him. So, I wanted to get back in touch and hang out some."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jacobs smile return to his face. I had made him happy and oddly enough knowing he was happy because of something I said created a fluttering in my stomach… I think maybe that crush wasn't completely gone…

"That's really nice to hear Bella. Well you two go hang out then. Also, let me know if you want to stay for dinner."

"Will do." I said to Billy and then turned to Jacob and asked, "What did you want to do?"

"Well right before Charlie called I was going to go work on my car. Did you want to see it?" He asked me. I could tell that he thought I wouldn't enjoy myself but I quickly put an end to that thought.

"That sounds great! Did you build this one too?" I asked with enthusiasm as I recalled how Jacob had basically built my truck.

"Yeah ha-ha. Let's go." Jacob started walking through the living room towards a backdoor.

I turned to Billy Black and said, "It was nice seeing you." Then quickly followed Jacob to the shed.

You couldn't see his shed while you were standing on the back porch so I didn't know which direction I was supposed to be walking. Just as that thought crossed my mind Jacob grabbed me by the hand and led me to his shed. My hand tingled all over from his touch… that was so weird.

"This is my baby." Jake proclaimed once we were inside. "She's a 1986 Rabbit."

"Oh wow! You built this? All on your own?" I was honestly impressed.

"Well, my dad supplied some of the parts- You know, the ones I couldn't find at the junk yard. But other than that, I've done everything." He seemed kind of bashful while telling me this.

"Jacob do you know how cool this is? You building cars? I wouldn't be able to change my own windshield wipers if I had to. Literally. Charlie changes them for me."

Jacob looked at me with shock covering his face. "Please tell me you're kidding Bella! What are you supposed to do if something ever happens when you're away from home?"

"Well I'll have you to fix it for me." I said to him with a smile on my face. It was so easy to talk to Jacob. A big issue I had was even though I felt a million times better than I did a few months ago it was still difficult staying interested in conversation with people. Not with Jacob though.

"No Bella, that's not safe at all! You need to know the basics of your truck and how to fix simple things that can go wrong! It's not a safe world and I wouldn't want you stranded in the middle of nowhere." Jacob said with a stern look on his face.

His comment both embarrassed me because of my lack of knowledge and made me happy because he was worried for my wellbeing. "Well how am I supposed to learn that kind of stuff?" I asked him.

He paused for a second and then quietly said, "I could teach you… If you wanted."

The flutters in my stomach turned into full on butterflies. He wanted to spend more time with me, you don't just offer to do that kind of thing with someone you don't want to be around.

With a small smile on my face I said, "I'd like that, Jacob. But when would we do that?"

"Well, not right now because you're all pretty right now… Uh, not that you're not pretty all the time- I wouldn't know- ha-ha uhhh." Jacob was blushing at this point. "We could work on the weekends or anytime during the week that we're both free. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great to me." I answered him with a giggle. "Sooo you think I'm pretty?"

Before Jacob could answer I heard someone yell his name.

"JACOB!"

"Was that Billy?" I asked him.

"Nope." Jacob said and then he muttered something under his breath that sounded like. "At least their good for something."

"Jacob! You out there?" The voice shouted out again, closer now.

"Yeah I'm in here!" Jacob shouted back and sighed.

Two boys around Jacobs age ducked into the shed. One was muscular, like Jacob, but much shorter and he had hair that was so short it was almost shaved. The second was thin, thinner than either of the boys, and he had the same long black hair as Jacob. The one with the short hair walked over to Jacob and whispered something in his ear, which was followed by Jacob pushing the guy away.

"Well aren't you going to introduce us to your friend, Jake?" The one with short hair asked.

"You just got here." Jacob muttered, obviously irritated by whatever his friend had whispered. "Bella, this is Quil and Embry, their my best friends."

"Hello," I said, with a wave of my hand. "If you don't mind me asking, which is which? Ha-ha."

The one with the long hair, which I just noticed was dripping wet, said, "Hi, I'm Embry Call." He waved at me and then walked over to the Rabbit.

"That must make you Quil then." I said with a smile in the direction of the boy next to Jacob.

"The one and only." He said with a wink

Both boys started laughing and then Embry shouted, "You are literally the third generation of your name! Stop trying to act cool."

"Oh, shut up guys!" Quil was angry now and loudly walked over to Jacob's Rabbit and threw himself in, like a child having a temper tantrum.

"So, what are you doing hanging out with a guy like Jake, Bella?" Quil asks me.

"Well, I was going to ask Jake to accompany me to the beach today, but then we got talking about cars and now we're going to be spending a few afternoons a week together so he can teach me some things about my truck."

Before Quil could respond to me Jacob says with a slightly horrified look on his face, "I didn't know you wanted to go to the beach. I'm sorry I rambled on about cars! You didn't get a chance to ask."

"No, it's perfectly fine Jacob. I didn't necessarily want to go to the beach. I wanted to see you and I figured we could go if we had nothing to else to do. Honestly Its fine, I really have been enjoying myself." And I really had. I hadn't had one thought about… him… today. It wasn't that Jacob was just distracting me, it was that I was having a genuinely good time with a member of the opposite sex.

"Well, we can go to the beach the next time you come over! Tomorrow maybe?" He was unconvinced.

I laughed a little bit, "Sure, that sounds great."

Embry and Quil started oooing like a bunch of grade schoolers. "Jacobs got a daaaate, Jacobs got a daaaate."

"I swear if you two do not shut up right now." Jacob threatened as he walked towards Quil.

Quil in response put his hands up as if he were surrendering, "Okay man! Sorry!"

In the next half hour, the boys started pulling things off of the rabbit and showing me what they were and what they were called, without making me touch them. In that small amount of time I felt happier than I had in a while. They didn't look at me like I was crazy or like I was going to snap at any second. They were just being their selves and having fun messing with the Rabbit, and even though they had no clue what they had done I wanted to thank them for it.

I interrupted Jake as he was talking to Quill about some part he had easily removed from the car, "Could I make you all some dinner tonight? As a thank you for teaching me so much already?"

"Hell yeah! that sounds great!" Quill said enthusiastically.

Jacob elbowed him in the ribs, cutting off his excitement, and said, "You don't have to do that for us Bella. I want to do this for you."

"And I want to do this for you. Please. Let me cook for you. It's honestly the least I could do."

"Well then of course. I'll eat anything you give me." Jacob said with a smile.

Quill and Embry erupted in laughter to some unknown reason to me. I glanced over at Jacob and could see that he was blushing under his copper skin. Obviously, he knew why they were laughing.

Curious, I asked, "What's so funny guys? I want in on the joke."

Embry started walking off, pulling Quill by the arm, and says, "Oh, it's nothing important Bella! Quill forgot that me and him had plans today so we'll have to take a raincheck on dinner, but I'm sure Jake would love to have something to eat!" The boys ran off into the woods laughing, leaving me and Jacob alone. He was still blushing like mad so I decided to leave the subject of what was so funny alone for the time being. But it wasn't the last time he was going to hear about it from me. It was about a minute before I started talking again.

"You wanna head out? We can stop by the store and I can grab stuff for any meal you want."

With a sigh of relief, probably do to the fact that I was no longer asking about why Quill and Embry were laughing, Jacob answers, "Yeah! Let me go and tell my dad that I'll be heading out."

"Why don't you invite him along too? Dinner will be at roughly six-thirty when Charlie gets off work, so that'll give Billy like three hours to get ready."

Jacob stared at me for a few seconds with a puzzled facial expression, like he didn't expect me to even consider inviting Billy Black to enjoy a meal with all of us. A wide smile spreads across his face before saying, "That's really nice of you Bella. Are you sure?"

I didn't answer Jacobs question for the main reason that I was honestly not paying any attention to his words. I was far too focused on his smile. Jacob was so handsome it was hard to not get distracted by his smile and his eyes.

"Bella?" Jacob interrupted my thoughts, "Are you sure it's ok that my dad comes?"

"Oh! Um uh, yeah! It's totally fine." I stammered

Jacob looked at me with a suspicion in his eyes, "What were you thinking about? You looked pretty deep in thought for a moment."

"No-nothing! Just about what I could make for dinner that would make all three hungry men happy." I quickly lied to my new friend. I shouldn't be having thoughts like that, I had just started spending time with him. What would my thoughts be like in a month if this continued?

Jacob didn't look very convinced with my lie, after all I wasn't very good at it. But he seemed to let it go. "Anything you make will be wonderful. But I can ask my dad for suggestions if you'd like."

"Sure, is it ok if I go in the house with you?"

"Of course, Bella why do you have to ask?" He obviously thought the question was stupid, "You're always welcomed in my home. No matter what."

I felt a shot of happiness run through my body. It was nice knowing I had a place to go when being at home was to lonely.

We were silent for the first couple minutes on the short ten-minute walk from Jacobs shed to his house. I was listening to the wind blowing through the trees and enjoying the chill on my face when Jacob started talking.

"You know, I'm really happy that you're inviting my dad." He said this to me while he studied my face.

"How come?" I asked him. He turned away from me before he answered.

"Because that means he can keep your dad company and we can sneak off to hang out some more." He was blushing at this point. "That is… If you want to."

"I'd like that." I found myself blushing with a small smile permanently plastered to my face.

Jacob had stayed at home with his father in La Push when we realized that Billy wouldn't be able to drive himself to Forks for dinner. I had told Jacob that I didn't mind driving him back to La Push when it was time for him to pick up his dad, but he wasn't having it. He didn't want to 'waist my time' as he put it. He also said he didn't think my truck could run so much in one day without breaking down. What was with everyone in my life insulting my Mable Girl?

Charlie had just gotten home when I was pulling the Lasagna out of the oven.

"Hey Dad! How was work?"

Charlie looked tired and for a moment I felt a little guilty for inviting people over.

"Work was tiring today, but I'm just happy to come home to such a loving daughter who makes me dinner." He walked over to the lasagna and was about to cut himself a piece when I grabbed the spatula from him and swatted his hand.

"No no no. We're having company tonight and they'll be here any time now. Go upstairs and change out of your uniform before they get here!" I was laughing as I said this so he wouldn't think that I was bossing him around. Even though I was.

"Who's coming to dinner Bells?" He questioned me while rubbing his hand.

"I invited the Blacks over!" I said with enthusiasm.

Charlie seemed pleased. "Oh, what a great idea! I've been meaning to invite Billy over to talk about our next fishing trip."

"Dad it's January… Aren't the fish gone?"

"Bella, have you never heard of ice fishing? Fish are around all year long, you just have to know where to look." Just then a heavy knock interrupted our conversation.

"That's them! Go upstairs and change! Go go!" Charlie hurried upstairs to change and I went to answer the door.

"Hey!" I said to Jacob and Billy as Jacob rolled his dad into the house.

"Hey Bella, long time no see!" Billy joked. Ah, dad jokes. "Where's your old man?"

"He just got home. He's changing out of his uniform right now, he'll be down in just a minute."

"It smells great in here Bella! What did you make?" Jacob asked me while sniffing his way into the kitchen.

"Lasagna! I thought it would be a safe option since you forgot to tell me what you dad likes to eat." I said while giving Jacob a mock angry expression with my eyes squinted and my lips puckered.

I caught Jacob looking at my lips before Billy said, "Well you did well Bella! I love Lasagna. My wife used to make it for me and the kids all the time."

Charlie walked down the stairs, now in lazy clothes, shouting, "Now who in the world let these low life's in the house?"

"Who are you calling a low life? If anyone is a lowlife in here it's your sorry ass!" Billy rolled himself over to ram into Charlie's shins playfully.

"Now settle down children it's time for dinner! The lasagna is going to get cold!"

"Oh, NOW I'm allowed to eat?" My dad joked with me.

"Yes, now you're allowed to eat." I said with a giggle.

We all sat down to eat and I got compliments left and right on the meal. I had worked extra hard because I knew Jacob would be eating with us, and it payed off because after a couple of bites Jacob said that he would marry me just for my cooking alone It was so good. I beamed when he said that. It was starting to get hard to deny to myself that I had started to develop a crush.

After dinner, we all sat in the living room together while My dad and Billy talked about sports and fishing. I was starting to get kind of board after a point and apparently so was Jacob because he stood up and said, "Well, me and Bella are going to go for a walk, you two keep being old men."

Charlie and Billy looked at each other then at me and Jacob. "Okay have fun." Billy said, interrupting Charlie as he was about to say something that sounded like, "Hey, wait a minute."

I grabbed my jacket, pulled it on, then Jacob and I walked quickly out the front door.

We walked down my street for a couple of minutes, not exchanging any words, but Jacob kept looking at me.

"Thank you for that. I didn't know when would be a good time to sneak out." I said to Jacob.

"No problem, and I wouldn't call what I did sneaking ha-ha."

"Yeah, Charlie looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he realized I was leaving the house with a boy." We both laughed.

The night air was cold. It had probably dropped fifteen degrees by now. Jacob had no issue with the cold though. He had nothing on to protect himself from the chilly air except for a pair of holey jeans and a green, thin, long-sleeved shirt.

"Aren't you cold Jacob?"

"No not at all, I enjoy the chill on my skin. It's probably because I'm so warm."

"I don't like the cold at all. I guess I'm not a very warm person ha-ha."

"Nah, you're probably as warm as anyone else. I run hot. I don't know why but it's always like I'm running a fever." Jacob took my hand and bent down so he could place it on his forehead. He was right, his skin was extra warm to the touch. Not hot like a fever just extra warm. How odd.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked with concern. I would feel so bad if he was sick and decided to come to dinner because I had asked him to. Although he didn't feel like he had a fever, the warmth he was emitting could be the start of one.

"Yeah, I'm fine Bella. Never felt better. I'm just a warm person, like I said." Jacob pulled my hand from his forehead and it dropped to my side. I wish he had kept it in his hand.

After a second of walking in silence I knew what I wanted to talk about. "Jacob, I have a question for you."

"Okay, shoot." He said to me.

We had reached the end of my street so we turned around and headed back to the house.

"Why did your friends start laughing when you said you would eat anything I gave you?"

Jacob started blushing under that beautiful copper skin and said, "Ah Bella, you're a lady. I don't want to say something so perverted in front of you."

That caught my attention. Big time. "No, it's ok, I don't mind." I said, but he didn't seem very convinced so I added, "What if I answered a question for you if you answer this one for me? Would that be a fair trade?"

Jacob seemed to consider the proposition for a moment and then sighed. "Okay deal."

He was quiet for a moment and it didn't seem like he was going to answer and since curiosity was biting at me I asked, "Sooo?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" He said, "I'm just trying to figure out a way to say this without it sounding so vulgar."

"Just say it Jacob. I won't judge you. I'm actually really curious now."

"Okay." Big sigh, "They were basically laughing because it sounded kinda like I was talking about eating you out… you know… Oral sex."

As much as his comment should have embarrassed me, it didn't. I was never allowed to even think about sex in my last relationship, god forbid talk about it. This was new to me and I was definitely interested in the subject. But I would keep my interest to myself right now because at this moment Jacob looked more like a tomato now than I did when I would get sunburned in Phoenix.

"See that wasn't that hard. Thank you for answering truthfully." I said to him with a smile.

"My turn to ask you a question then, right?" Jacob asked me once he had calmed down a bit.

Our walk ended as we reached my house. "Right. What did you want to ask?" I leaned up against the front door and waited for his question.

"Today there was a moment when you got lost in thought. I had asked you what you were thinking about and you lied to me- Don't try and deny it you're a terrible liar. What were you thinking about, truthfully?"

"Oh God!" I said and covered my face with my hands. "I know what you're talking about."

"Well than spill it." Jacob murmured while lightly poking me in the side. "I answered yours."

"I know." With my hands still over my face I said, "I was thinking about how attractive you've become since the last time we hung out. You're like really handsome Jacob."

It was quiet for a second and I peeked through my fingers to see what Jacob was doing, only to see two big brown eyes right at my level. Jacob grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face and said,

"I think you're beautiful, Bella."

 **A/N: Okie Dokie! Leave me some feedback in the comment section or email me at** ArizonaRain7723 **. If any of you would Like a bonus chapter at the end of the story of Bella and Renee's time together during Bella's healing process let me know.**


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